Helena Rodrigues is academic education includes BSc in Biochemistry (2015) and MSc in Applied Biochemistry at the Biotechnology field (2017), both at the University of Minho. During the BSc project, MSc extracurricular volunteer period and MSc thesis, her research work focused on the characterization of cetaceans microbiome, aiming to develop a health biomonitoring approach to these marine sentinels in the context of the CetSenti project (RECI/AAGGLO/0470/2012). In 2018, Helena performed a specialized training course in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, where she learned several approaches used in cell culture and animal models. Since 2018, she is a researcher at CBQF in the SerpaFlora project, aiming at characterizing the microflora of Serpa PDO cheese as well as identify chemical markers of its specificity to select promising microbial strains, well adapted to the technological process and, for instance, with probiotic and antimicrobial potential, for the development of autochthonous starter cultures. She has also gained expertise in biochemical characterization of food matrixes (e.g. volatile compounds, organic acids, polysaccharides, phenolic compounds, proteins, peptides, amino acids, and fatty acids). Helena had also the opportunity to improve her entrepreneurship skills during the participation in NEWFOOD: Food Technologies Valorization project, winning a prize in FoodValorization Contest with Probiotic traditional cheese project. Since June of 2020, she integrate in Mobfood project: Mobilizing scientific and technological knowledge in response to the challenges of the agri-food market. This focuses on the valorization of agri-food by-products, such as porcine blood, wastewaters, vegetable and fruit residues, to develop functional ingredients and nutraceutical products. Our research involved applying valorization strategies (e.g. enzymatic hydrolysis and membrane systems to produce added-value protein hydrolysates) as well as assessing the biochemical profile of resultant fractions and their bioactive potential through prebiotic, antioxidant, anti-hypertensive, and anti-diabetic assays. In this project, new products for human nutrition were formulated, including sensory and consumer acceptance evaluation. Through this work, she solidified her interest in developing innovative and sustainable nutritional solutions to improve consumer health, particularly with prebiotic potential for gut microbiota modulation and human health benefits. Currently, she is a PhD student at ESB-UCP and i3S-UP in the Biotechnology doctoral program, working in the food and health fields to understand the impact of mushroom biomass nutrition on gut microbiota modulation and association with neuroprotection in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders. This work involved characterizing bioactive compounds (e.g., glucans, proteins and peptides) in different mushroom biomass species before and after gastrointestinal digestion simulation, conducting in vitro fecal fermentation assays to study the impact on gut microbiota dynamics and metabolite production, and evaluating gut-brain interactions (e.g., anti-inflammatory and antioxidant) through cell culture and Caenorhabditis elegans models. Helena recently expanded her expertise through an international mobility program, winning a FEBS fellowship, at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Salamanca, Spain, working with C. elegans model, providing an excellent opportunity to refine her scientific skills, engage in international collaboration, and enhance communication abilities. Her main areas of interest are Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Biomedicine, Microbiology, and Bioproducts, specifically in the food and health fields. Some of her scientific contributions have been recognized with the Food Valorization prize, three Best Oral Presentation awards, and a FEBS Summer Fellowship.